Dolphins interest in Mike Williams is interesting

OK, they're not interested in Brandon Marshall. I get that. They're not interested in Terrell Owens, even as a short-term solution to a big problem. I sort of get that, also.

The Dolphins might not be interested in Dez Bryant if it takes the No. 12 overall selection in the draft to get him. Something about risk versus reward. I get that, too.

Yet there is an interest in Mike Williams.

Hmmmm. I'm trying to get that.

The team brought Williams for a visit at the Davie, FL. training facility on Thursday and spent several hours with him.

Williams is a 6-2, 220-pound prototype from Syracuse University. Well, he was from Syracuse University until he reportedly left the team in November. Those reports, by the way, were the result of Syracuse coach Doug Marrone saying Williams quit the team. So the sourcing cannot be questioned. Williams quit the team according to his coach.

It was a strange situation because Marrone said Williams went to him without being summoned and simply quit.

Asked at the time why Williams quit the team, Marrone said, "You'd have to ask him. I have no idea. I'm not going to discuss the conversation from my end. Obviously, I told you that he came up to me and voluntarily took himself off the team. That's it."

Well, that's not really it.

Reports later surfaced that Williams was on the verge of being suspended by Marrone when he decided to quit. It wasn't the first time Williams had issues at Syracuse. He was suspended from school in 2008 for cheating on a test.

When he quit with four games left in the season, Williams had 49 catches for 746 yards and six touchdowns. He ranked first in the Big East and 14th nationally with seven receptions per game. He was first in his conference and 20th nationally in receiving yards.

The saga of Williams leaving the team in 2009 is a big issue for teams. When a player leaves a team it raises questions as to how much he loves the game, it raises questions whether he's a quitter, it raises questions whether he's likely to repeat the offense in the pros if things get tough, because as Nick Saban used to say, past actions is the best predictor of future actions.

"I've been talking to all the NFL teams about that," Williams said during the Indianapolis Combine in February. " I want to leave it at that. But what I want everybody to know is I didn't quit. I'll leave that story at that."

So Williams didn't want to say what actually happened, or what he believes happened, but he did want to remove the doubt about him quitting.

"I told the teams that, all the teams know the whole story," Williams said. "I want to leave it at that, I don't want to make it a big media story. I just want everybody to know I didn't quit."

Williams apparently is admitting to teams that he cheated on the test. He told them he simply doesn't like school. And he's telling teams that he can be reliable.

"I want to let them know that I'm a nice person, I'm a good person," Williams said. "School was just my problem. I had bad judgment when I was young. School has been my problem, I want to let them know I can play football and be there for that team."

Obviously the Dolphins have bought in -- at least to the point of bringing Williams to town.